The invention relates to a device according to the preamble of claim 1 comprising an elongated shaft, a ground support pivoted to a first end of the shaft transversely in relation to the longitudinal axis thereof and at least two blades including grip ends forming an extension of the shaft.
Various kinds of devices are previously known in the art for removing plants, weeds or the like from the ground, in other words for weeding for instance dandelions from the lawn. An example of such a prior art device for pulling weeds is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 1,065,606.
The prior art solutions according to the device disclosed in the publication mentioned above typically comprise an elongated shaft with a first blade fixedly mounted to the second end as an extension thereof. The fixed blade is in relation to the shaft transversely provided with a ground support, and the end closest to the shaft forms a second blade as an extension of the shaft and can be moved in respect of the shaft. When weeding for instance a dandelion from the lawn, the above-mentioned blades provided as the extension of the shaft are pressed into the ground around the dandelion so that the blades are placed on opposite sides of the dandelion. The blades are pressed so deep into the ground that the ground support can be supported on the ground. Thereafter, the shaft starts to be turned in the direction of the ground support towards the ground and at the same time ground support is pressed down to the ground assisted by the foot of the operator. Then the ground support and the blade forming the second end thereof remain in position in relation to the ground and the shaft connected to the ground support with a joint and the first blade fixedly mounted thereto move in relation to the ground and the ground support, whereby the ends of the first and the second blade move towards each other, thus enabling to grip the dandelion beneath the ground. When continuing to turn the shaft as described above the device pulls out a dandelion gripped by the blades from the ground.
A problem with the above arrangement is that the moving blade has to perform a movement of significant size in comparison with the fixed blade and the gripping is not carried out smoothly in such a case. Also, the blades in the device are arranged such that gripping the roots or other parts of the plant is made difficult in practice and the plant is therefore only partly removed from the ground.